Five years ago, I didn’t think much of the concept of personal brand: it felt artificial and vain. I had a reputation of course and I felt strongly about it. But a brand? I also had opinions and felt I had some expertise. But did that make me a thought leader?

Since then, Web 2.0 has changed the way we are perceived by others. It gave us an opportunity to exist which became an obligation to maintain our online presence: whether we like it or not, we are the content we publish.

Jeff Bullas has built a strong personal brand through his blog and he articulates in this post the 10 principles he’s prescribing to develop your personal brand.

10 is a lot. And this list might sound overwhelming… So here’s my take on it:

1. The drawing above is a good one: you won’t build any brand – let alone a personal one – without passion.

Start by what you already do: what do you like to read about? What opinions or reactions come naturally? What makes you sound different than the rest?

2. There is a tight connexion between 3 things that you should align: your content, your interests and your network.

You won’t exist without content and if it doesn’t align with your network, nobody will care nor amplify in. And if it’s not aligned with your interest, you won’t have the passion described above.

To be heard, you need to be consistent: pick a few topics – or maybe even just one – that your audience will come to naturally associate you with. Publishing consistently is key but creating it is just one of the alternative: expressing your opinions or analysis through curated content is also a great way to demonstrate thought leadership.

The other points he makes in his posts are great but I’ll add one recommendation, perhaps the most important one in my eyes: remember to be yourself.